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Saturday-Friday | January 16 - 22, 2021
Duterte: National recovery from COVID-19 crisis within sight MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday expressed optimism that the Philippines would recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as the government prepares for its mass vaccination program this year. “There is light at the end of the tunnel. National recovery is within sight,” Duterte said in a video message at the signing of the tripartite agreement involving the local government units and private sector for additional 17 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine. The President also hailed the business community and the LGUs for their support to the fight against COVID-19. “Our tripartite agreement is a true showcase of unity, of purpose, and principled partnership benefitting our public. This is bayanihan at work,” he said. The Philippines expects to receive the first vaccine delivery in February that will be used to inoculate the country’s health workers before distributing the vaccines to the general
POGO-linked kidnap cases rise amid pandemic
MANILA (Mabuhay) — The number of kidnapping cases involving Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) almost doubled last year amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) said on Tuesday. Citing latest data, AKG director Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo said a total of 17 POGO-related kidnapping incidents was recorded in 2020, with 10 cases filed, 23 victims rescued, 33 suspects arrested and two suspects killed during police operations. This translates to an 88-percent increase from only nine incidents recorded in 2019, with 13 victims rescued, 34 suspects arrested and six cases filed. “There was a slight increase in the recorded cases particularly in the year 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since there was a stoppage on the operations of the online gaming casinos, employers have no profit and in order to survive they will detain their employees and deprive them and ask for money in exchange for liberty to their families abroad,” Estomo told reporters. He, however, said the AKG continues to enhance its interoperability with local police units to be able to resolve kidnapping cases. The victims of POGO-related kidnapping incidents last year include 18 Chinese nationals, three Taiwanese, one Malaysian, and one Vietnamese. The suspects, meanwhile, include 26 Chinese, three Filipinos, two Indonesians, two Malaysians, one Filipino-Chinese, and one Taiwanese. Meanwhile, the number of gambling-related kidnapping cases in the country last year decreased to 14, a 63-percent decline from 38 cases recorded in 2019. Earlier, Estomo said they are closely coordinating and liaising with their foreign counterparts, the Department of Justice, National Capital Regional Police Office, the Bureau of Immigration, NAIA authorities, and other PNP territorial units regarding these incidents. He said the AKG has partnered with Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation for the procurement of a mobile communication/ investigation van and also set a summit on casino debt-related kidnappings, aimed at forming an action plan to combat these crimes. (MNS)
population. The government aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people in 2021 alone. “Together, we can ensure a safe, sure and secure rollout of our national immunization program,” Duterte said. “We now have the weapon to defeat this virus, the vaccine, and let us win the war and save lives and livelihoods.” The Philippines is seen to lag behind its peers in the Asia Pacific region in terms of fully recovering from the recession which resulted from the global health crisis, according to Moody’s Analytics. Malacañang said it would disprove the forecast. (MNS) PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE
De Lima on Aguirre’s appointment to NAPOLCOM:
Duterte really good at recycling waste MANILA (Mabuhay) — Senator Leila De Lima on Tuesday mocked President Rodrigo Duterte for appointing former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II as commissioner at the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM). "Duterte should appoint himself to the National Solid Waste Management Commission. Magaling talaga siya mag recycle ng basura. #zeroWaste," De Lima, also a former Justice secretary, said in a statement. De Lima has been detained since February 2017 over drug-related charges. She has repeatedly claimed that the charges against her are all politically-motivated. De Lima has sued Aguirre in prev ious years for allegedly usi ng c onv ic te d criminals as state witnesses in her illegal drug trading case, and for alleged failure to investigate and prosecute more than 7,000 cases of alleged extraAGUIRRE II judicial killings
in the government's war on drugs. Back then, Aguirre said he was not afraid of anything that De Lima would file against him because he has nothing to hide, and that he can refute these "baseless" accusations. He resigned from his Department of Justice post in April 2018 amid criticisms over the initial dismissal of charges against suspected drug personalities. On Monday, Malacañang announced that Aguirre has been appointed as NAPOLCOM commissioner representing the private sector. C ont r a r y t o De Lima's take on t h is development, Senate P resident V icente Sotto III said Aguirre was "h ig h ly qua l ified" for the position. D uter te a nd Ag uirre were law school classmates. They are also members of the San Beda College of Law-based Lex Talionis FraDE LIMA ternity.
Strict biosecurity needed to aid hog raisers amid ASF outbreak MANILA (Mabuhay) — An official of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said on Tuesday the country needs to improve its risk management standards and sustainability measures so hog raisers can survive and thrive amid the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak. “ASF has already taken a big toll on the country’s pig population. The key to surviving this hog epidemic is a well-studied and properly implemented biosecurity program that will help hog raisers set up practicable measures to prevent or control the spread of infection within a pig farm,” BPI Sustainable Development Finance (SDF) head Jo Ann Eala said in a statement. Pig Improvement Company (PIC) Philippines general manager Vino Borromeo said analysts projected about 750,000 sows could be affected if ASF continues to spread across the country, causing a supply shortfall and price hike. The virus will remain in the country and continue to spread until an effective ASF vaccine arrives, and that attaining the supply level in 2019 may take at least 10 years, he added. “The shortfall will fast track the
transformation of the industry to adopt a more modern system of farming, put technology into the process, and innovate solutions to be more efficient and more conscious of the biosecurity that we need to put in place to protect herds,” he said. The BPI said until proper biosecurity discipline is implemented, “it will be really tough to repopulate and ensure that you don’t get hit again.” In 2020, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced the establishment of the first-border inspection (FBI) facilities in the country’s major ports, starting at the Manila International Container Port. It will further strengthen onsite border control inspections for imported animals, plants, meat, and other farm and fishery products arriving in major international seaports in the country. DA Secretary William Dar said the FBI will be done on all animals, plants, fisheries, and related agricultural products arriving from other countries. “The FBI facilities will be one of the major accomplishments of the Duterte administration as biosecurity measures like quarantine checks are needed to protect ani-
mal, plant and public health, and animal welfare,” Dar said. The FBI facilities will also be put up at Manila South Harbor, Subic Freeport Zone, Port of Batangas, Cebu International Port, and Port of Davao. Meanwhile, Tugon Kabuhayan convenor Asis Perez in a virtual presser said the putting up of a border inspection facility would be of great help in ensuring food safety, especially of imported commodities entering the country. Perez, former director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), said the proper process is that before products entered the Philippines and charged with duties by the Bureau of Customs, they should be first inspected and examined in laboratories for food safety purposes. “This will not require additional budget on the part of the government because it should be the manufacturers or exporters who should shoulder the lab fees,” he said. Perez said the good thing is that BFAR has already taken preliminary steps in drafting the guidelines on the inspection and labeling of imported goods for fish and seafood products. (MNS)
